How many Mobile detailers offer a tire rotation service???

**Reflctn Perfctn** · 09-07-2005, 07:59 PM

I am thinking of offering my clients a tire rotation service as well for 19.99$, and only 9.99$ with any detail package! How many mobile guys offer this service??? Also is there any other special insurance that i will need???

**TrueDetailer** · 09-07-2005, 08:12 PM

I don`t think you want to offer that as a service. Unless you have mobile lift,air tank, and a impact gun. Your going to spend alot of time doing this with a hand jack and a breaker bar.. And 9.99 or 19.99 in my eyes is just not worth it. Plus all the risk you bring into play. Snapping a stud, Not torquing them down enough, Putting directional tires in the wrong direction by mistake. What will you tell your customer if, while their driving down the interstate one of their wheels come off and goes rolling by them by chance???

**Reflctn Perfctn** · 09-07-2005, 08:41 PM

I thought it would be a good up sell service? If a customer wants a wash and vac package which I sell for 25.00$ I can also Save you the hassel of goin to get your tires rotated and do them now for 19.99$ An extra 20.00 for less then 30 minutes of work is not bad.
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**Patrick** · 09-07-2005, 09:00 PM

I use to check tire pressure, and check fluids, but gave it up for the sake of it being an inconvenience........

**jaybs02** · 09-07-2005, 09:07 PM

Sounds like a nice idea but, as truedetailer mentioned, it could open you up to much greater liabilities, should (god forbid) anything happen.
JMHO

Good luck with whatever you choose
"J"

**Bell** · 09-07-2005, 10:23 PM

Very bad idea in that you can be held liable for anything that goes wrong and as already mentioned, without the right tools you`ll be basically doing it for free.

**tubafeak** · 09-08-2005, 07:37 AM

I do it for my friends and full details at my house, I`m taking the wheels off to deep clean and polish them anyway. I find that it`s a nice thing to do. Bear in mind that I do have an impact wrench outfit and I tend to be careful about everything. I check the torque on the bolts when I`m done and make sure everything`s in order. I have to say that a hydraulic floor jack is a neccesity if you want to do it, a scissor jack is just too slow and ineffective.

**RTexasF** · 09-08-2005, 06:24 PM

Here`s a thought -

Some of the newer vehicles require a different rotation than simply front to back. For instance My `04 Accord is right rear to left front, left rear to right front, both fronts to the rear on their respective sides. This would be tough to do without a lift.

Just my .02 worth.

**Brenton** · 09-08-2005, 06:48 PM

Talk to your insurance provider. My garage policy is about $200 CAD/year, and covers up to $20k in damage, or $1mil in liability (like if the car explodes because I put too much wax on).

**CARTfan** · 09-08-2005, 07:00 PM

I`d definitely stay away from that service. So many things can be attributed to your rotating the tires in a customer`s mind. You rotated my tires, now I have a pull, vibration, worn tire, squeak, scrape, rattle, flat tire, scratched wheel, lost center cap etc. etc. And all these things may be completely irrelevant to the tire rotation. Does it sound like I speak from experience? Unfortunately yes.

**maximv1** · 09-08-2005, 08:29 PM

working at a dealership, i see customers complain all day about dumb little things. i think that by offering it, you are assuming alot of liability for little profit. RTexasF is correct. most rotations are drive wheels straight, other two criss/cross. very hard to do without axle stands or a hoist.TrueDetailer mentioned snapping a stud which could lead to a tow bill to a garage and a large reapir amd replace bill, causing you to lose money instead. if not torqued properly, and the wheel comes off, the lawsuit will be large. most shops do rotates as a way to check brakes and suspension for upsell work. since you won`t be offering that type of extra, i don`t see the risk being worth the payoff.

**Secret Chimp** · 09-10-2005, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by Reflctn Perfctn

I thought it would be a good up sell service?

To do this properly you would need to know the different methods for tire rotation depending on whether the car has different offset tires front/back, directional tires, and whether it is fwd or rwd etc. You would need to jack up the car in a way that would allow you to remove 2 tires at a time diagonally, longitudinally, and laterally. That means yo uprobably need a full lift or 2 jacks. You would need to always be working on a perfectly level surface. You would need to carry wood to put under the jacks or the lift to keep them from ruining the parking lot or driveway you are working in.

And most importantly, you will need to know the lug nut torquing specs of each and every car on which you perform this service. Get it wrong and you are dealing with a HUGE liability. I have seen and heard of tire shops getting hit with very large lawsuits because improperly torqued lug nuts led to a loss of a wheel on the highway, which led to that wheel rolling into oncoming traffic and killing the innocent driver of another vehicle.

I would personally steer clear of this.